GREEN LEFT AND THE ANGLICANS

This picture and its source offends Christian sensibilities and sensitivities.

However, when grown up Archbishops and Bishops play at schism, it offends mine.

Life is peculiar sometimes - particularly its synchronicities. A week ago to-day, I attended a huge turn out of union officials and delegates at the Dallas Brookes Centre in East Melbourne. Its purpose was to hear about the ABCC and what it is doing - and what it is doing, in particular, to Noel Washington.

As those of you who attend these big working class events know, they are a magnet for all sorts of left organisations (except the ALP, of course). They are there with their stalls, their stickers and posters, their buttons and badges, the newspapers, journals, books and flyers, and the petitions and the sign ups. The whole thing is quite festive and colourful. One sad note though was a woman from the Australian Irish Welfare Association who was handing out leaflets telling about the young Irishman gone missing, Stephen King. A body has since been found in the Yarra River and it is believed to be Stephen. May he rest in peace.

So on this festive sunny but chilly morning in the middle of Melbourne I collect every bit of paper presented to me - including the one I had to pay for, The Green Left Weekly. I am not a subscriber to GL but always buy it at these things - and it's usually from the lovely Sue Bolton. Don't read all the articles - but love the ads. This time - surprise, surprise - an article about religion: Class war and the Anglican schism by Barry Healy. I didn't read the article. I steer clear of reading about the latest machinations of the Sydney Anglicans in any form and I figured the last thing I needed was a Marxist critique of the whole shebang.

But synchronicity will have its mysterious and penetrating way. I have been in internet contact with Steve Hayes, a Greek Orthodox deacon in South Africa, on and off for the best part of ten years. I was studying theology at Morling College when I came across him through the South African Missiological Society and their excellent journal Missionalia. Steve - in our pre-blogging days - used to run an excellent email network. We have hooked up again on his blogs and on the Yahoo Groups site he manages, Christianity and Society.

Had an email from Steve the other day. A little controversy was in full flight on Notes from Underground. Guess what about? That's right, the GL article on the Anglicans. And are the Africans upset or what! Steve thought Miss Eagle from Australia might have something to say - and she did and she has, at length. So pop over to Steve's NFU and see what all the fuss is about - but it will help to read Barry Healy's article first.

~~~
When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

Christian Palestinian needs next?

Picture from the website of Sabeel

Following this report, I hope the next thing we hear is that Kevin Rudd will attend a fundraiser for Christian Palestinians - if there are any left in Palestine as their mass exodus continues due to Israel and Hamas et al trying their best to exterminate one another.

In the West, it seems we are either apathetic and ignorant with regard to our Christian brothers and sisters in Israel and Palestine, some of whom trace their Christian origins in a direct line back to the time of Christ, or we are so carried away by Israeli and Jewish propaganda and the Christian Zionist line, predominantly from the United States, that we just go with the flow.

To know more about Palestinian Christians on the West Bank and in Israel, please go here.

Sabeel, the Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, is in the processing of establishing Waves of Prayer. The idea is that each Thursday people will pray at 12 noon in their own time zone with Sabeel for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. Sabeel intends that Waves of Prayer will begin first in Australia's time zone.

Kevin Rudd mentioned in his speech that the estabishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was "Australian Labor government handiwork". This refers to the fact that H.V. Evatt, Australia's Foreign Minister at the time and later Leader of the Australian Labor Party, cast the first vote for the establishment of the state of Israel in the United Nations General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Christian Palestinians suffer. Christian Palestinians have their lands and livelihoods stolen. Their lives are taken in the violence and they are discrimated against by the Israelis both personally and systematically.

So, Kevin, how about it? In fact, as you and Therese are Anglicans, why not give public support to the Waves of Prayer and, while you're at it, please give Anglicord a ring. Contact details here.

When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

ARCHBISHOP PHILIP FREIER'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

Make Indigenous Poverty History - and the Anglicans

St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne

Dignity of work forum at Mitcham

PolMin, along with the Victorian Council of Churches, the Uniting Church’s Commission for Mission and Anglican Church’s Social Resposibilities Committee is sponsoring a forum about Dignity at Work.

The guest speakers will be three minimum wage workers from the USA who are in Australia on an ACTU sponsored tour.

The forum is being held in the marginal federal seat of Deakin and forms part of PolMin’s Just Work campaign.

Dignity at Work Forum - Minimum Wage Workers from the USA speak out

Thursday 26 July 2007
2pm
St John’s Catholic Church
494 Maroondah Hwy Mitcham

If you require a *pdf file for printing out the poster, please email Miss Eagle

Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freire: on the front foot.

The 10am news on the ABC here in Melbourne has just reported that Archbishop Philip Freire, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, has questioned why the Federal Government has linked its intervention in Aboriginal communities to the resumption of land. One assumes this was part of the Archbishop's address last night at the University of Wollongong when he delivered the Inaugural Richard Johnson College Lecture. The Lecture was titled Public Policy and Indigenous Affairs – 40 Years on.

The Archbishop certainly displayed a magnificent, nay Providential, sense of timing. Mal Brough is reported to-day as being most dismissive of the Catholic Bishops. Apparently the Catholic Bishops don't have close and sufficient knowledge. Don't know what Brough's religious allegiance is, if any, but it is clear that he knows nothing of the Catholic bishops and how they know exactly what is going on. Brough wouldn't want to be so dismissive of Freier whose credentials include a stint as Bishop of the Northern Territory immediately prior coming to Melbourne just at the end of last year. Now, what credentials does Brough think he has....? These are his credentials on the parliamenary website. Mmmm....!

Archbishop and Anglicans : Policy and Prayer

We keep hearing that our economy is booming, and we saw clear evidence of that in the federal Budget. But the sad reality is that inequality is increasing. Housing affordability is at a record low, rents are rising rapidly, and homelessness is increasing.

Words of warning from Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne. Read more of what he has to say here.

Philip Freier is taking the Christian voice to the frontline of the public policy debate in Melbourne.

New to Melbourne, the Archbishop has established a prayer quest, Prayer4Melbourne. This gets Archbishop Philip out and about into all sorts of places in the city and the suburbs to talk to all sorts of people. Read about this stuff on the Archbishop's blog.

Then there are his Conversations. Held in the centre of Melbourne at BMW Edge at Federation Square, there have been two so far. The first one focussed on stem cell research under the title Send in the Clones; the second one was Is a 'fair go' a 'no go' in Australia today?

Sign of the times

Photo: Craig Abraham/The Age

"JUSTICE FOR DAVID HICKS"

has become a cause for Melbourne's Anglicans. Not only is the demand made in an eight-metre banner hanging from St Paul's Cathedral, but new Archbishop Philip Freier has written to Prime Minister John Howard on Hicks' behalf.

Love is a challenge

I have to-day received an email from a friend. It is absolute drivel. I publish it below with my comments interpolated.

Have you ever thought -- Is Australian Moslem really an oxymoron? Can a devout Moslem be an Australian and a loyal citizen?
I forwarded that question to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 >years. The following is his forwarded reply:
"Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.
Mmmmm..... Don't know about the moon god bit but how do we interpret Islamic acceptance of Abraham, Moses, Jesus? How do we tally this up against a God (whom Christians and Jews worship) who is known as God of the Mountains (El Shaddai) and Lord of Armies (that's what Lord of Hosts means - not to mention various warlike characteristics that can be drawn from the Old Testament).
Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)
Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) So where are modern Christians in all this as they inhabit a pluralist society? How does this statement of Jesus' inform our discourse with Jews, Buddhists inter alia....and yes Muslims?
Scripturally, no Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, back in 1960, became the first Catholic elected to the US Presidency. Questions were asked during the campaign, (these same questions, I might add, had prevented previous Catholic hopefuls from running for the highest American office) concerning his allegiance to the Pope in Rome. Such questions by Christians have been used to discriminate against fellow Christians who own the name of Christ. Why should we believe, as we read this, that this statement is on any firmer ground than the Christian discriminators were.
Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day.
And the sun doesn't set on the British empire; and every night at 7pm at the RSL a light shines and a little prayer is said; and some Christians stand to pray, some sit, some kneel; some join their hands, some raise their hands. and some fold their arms. I am reminded of a saying of an old Pentecostal lady who was a friend of mine in younger days: It's not the position. It's the disposition that counts. And, tell me again, what this has to do with citizenship?
Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.
Well - one thing is for sure. We now know that the person who wrote this drivel has never travelled (even if he did work in S/Arabia for 20 years, it is clear he did not move beyond his European enclave) in Africa or Asia. There is a long history of Jews, Christians, and Moslems living peaceably in their communities. To give an indication of this, I have attached a document by the distinguished writer and historian William Dalrymple. Here is a link to William Dalrymple's home page. Here is the entry for William Dalrymple in Wikipedia.
Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.
As a Christian, I am required to submit to spiritual leadership.
Now can we know which mullah, which Moslem community, which Muslim denomination. Just like us peaceful, wise, and non-warlike Christians, there are many denominations/theological schools/communities within the Islamic tradition. Their teachings (unlike we unified Christians) are not universally the same.
Domestically, no. Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).
Oh, you mean that, like the Patriachs of the Old Testament, they may have more than one wife not like men in Christian societies who have one wife, one mistress, and some one night stands. And you mean women are beaten there like in Christian societies - many of whom are killed along with their children. Oh, you forgot to mention, that unlike women in Christian societies until the late 20th century, women entering marriage under Islamic law have economic rights. In fact, the Islamic community in Australia would like to have the Family Court of Australia recognise this in family law. Not mentioning those facts was a bit of a slip up.
Intellectually, no. Because he cannot accept the Australian Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.
Well, I almost doubled up with laughter at this one. Because one thing that the writers of the Australian Constitution were very careful to do was to keep any hint, smell or taint of religion out of the document. In fact, it is clear that our informants have never read the Australian Constitution otherwise they would know that the major concerns of the document have to do with commerce and the balance of power between six colonies (for here think individual nations in all but name) in bringing them into one nation. In case any one hasn't noticed, the colonies still get really stroppy and their relationships and their relationship with the Commonwealth of Australia have to be sorted out by the High Court of Australia. I have never heard anybody suggest that the High Court is a biblical body or that its decisions are based on the Bible or that they interpret the Constitution with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. In fact, I can think of a few decisions which were completely unbiblical.
Philosophically, no. Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co - exist.
Mmmm...Clearly all that lack of teaching of history that Australian schools are accused of is catching up. Christians have never been good on freedom of religion and expression until recent times. I am 62, was brought up in a pre-Vatican II Irish-Catholic-Australian tradition, and had a very Irish name which gave my religion away immediately. This does not raise an eyebrow these days. In fact, there's a certain cachet to such a heritage. But when I was growing up, religious bigotry was alive and well between Protestant and Catholics. Look at the history of the Queensland Police Force where there are historic divisions between Catholic and Masons. This was why Ray Whitrod had to leave the Qld Police Force. He was neither Catholic nor Mason : he was a Baptist. I could go on with the way Peter Hollingworth was vilified by the secular press when he accepted the appointment of Governor-General (keep this separate from what came later). And I am of the view that if the Chamberlains had been Anglican instead of Seventh Day Adventist their story would have been very different. As for democracy: well, democracy for whom? Could go on ad infinitum ad nauseam about this. Just suffice to say that The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills says it - even though it was written about the US of fifty years ago. It is a sociological classic about who controls what and how much and it informs the Australian milieu as well.
Every Moslem government is either dictatorial or autocratic.
Yeah. I know some of them are not attractive - to say the least. And yes I would like to see democratic institutions and universal suffrage. But have a look around democracies and tell me if there is a complete absence of dictators and autocrats and dictatorial and autocratic actions. This will be a shoo-in for Queenslanders to answer.
Spiritually, no. Because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names."
Now it becomes clear (as if it couldn't be figured out before this point). The answer is not from an Australian but from a citizen of the United States of America. You see only citizens of the USA refer to "one nation under God". SO-O-O please go back to the beginning and put this in your mind. As for the Christian's God being loving and kind - well there are a few other descriptions in the Bible. A reading of God - a biography by Jack Miles would shed a little light on this. Read about Jack Miles here and here.
Therefore after much study and deliberation.... Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MOSLEMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both "good" Moslems and good Australians. Call it what you wish.....it's still The truth.
If you find yourself intellectually in agreement with the above statements, perhaps you will share this with your friends. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future.The religious war is bigger and more complex than most Australians currently know or understand.

This drivel smells very much of stuff that comes from the Australia First Party and its associates. . You will note their involvement in the Cronulla riots and, more recently, drumming up racism against refugees in Tamworth. Moslems are like Christians. Each has their share of those who we would rather not own as citizens. In fact, most Moslems do not share the above views. Not all Moslems have plural marriage and nor do they all scourge their wives. One could go on. I would draw people's attention to a book that has been on must read lists for a while now A Short History of Islam by Karen Armstrong. You can read about Armstrong here and here.
We serve a risen Lord. His way is straight and narrow and we are to follow in His footsteps. He has given us two commandments. How does the above tally up with these. Where is the love? Where is the mercy? Where is "yourself"?
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

A shepherd for Melbourne sheep!

Lord, you give the great commission:

'heal the sick and preach the word'.

Lest the church neglect its mission,

and the gospel go unheard.

Jeffery Rowthorn

Yesterday, Saturday 16 December 2006, Dr Philip Leslie Freier was installed and recognised as the tenth Archbishop of Melbourne in the Metropolitical and Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Melbourne.

The emphasis of the liturgy was on the role of the shepherd, on justice, and on the Archbishop's background in Northern Australia.

To receive a file of photographs of the Installation, please email Miss Eagle (see the link on the side bar below the Ausflag symbol!).

Come, O justice, come O Peace:

come and shape our hearts anew;

come and make oppression cease:

bring us all to life in you

Marty Haugen

St Thom's celebrates 100 years

Yesterday, Sunday 2 July 2006,

St Thomas's Anglican Church at Upper Ferntree Gully

celebrated its 100th birthday.

The celebration was a wonderful mix of formality and informality.

All those white shirts in the pews on the left belonged to Singularity,

a local choir who performed magnificently.

Miss Eagle particularly enjoyed their rendition of Vivaldi's Gloria.

Of course, we had a Bishop (in full regalia) present to kick it along:

Bishop Stephen Hale, Bishop of the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne.

Susanne, our priest, presided over a beautiful event which

brought together young and old: those who have long memories

and contributions to St Thom's and those who are just embarking

on their journey with us.

World Environment Day 2006

The members of the Eastern Region Environment Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne have been busy little bees. To-day is World Environment Day and yesterday at church at St Thom’s at Upper Gully we received a handy little brochure on Water Saving. While Melbourne is not the driest part of the dry continent, its residents are quite water conscious and have constant reminders to vigilance so the Water Saving brochure was a contribution to the whole civic water saving ethos. The brochure explains to us as follows:

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Most of Australia is classed as arid or semi-arid, with 80% of the continent receiving less than 600 millimetres, and 50% receiving less than 300 millimetres, per year.

Of all the water on Earth, only 3% is fresh. Less than a third of 1% is available to humans. The rest is frozen in glaciers, polar ice caps or deep within the Earth, beyond our reach.

Water is one of the most important natural resources we have. It is essential to our existence.

Since 1900, global water consumption has risen 10 fold. UNESCO has predicted that by 2020 water shortage will be a serious problem world wide.

As Christians, we are called to care for, and to share with all, the creation given by God. It is therefore a responsibility of the Church to show leadership in sustainable water management. Action is therefore being taken to raise the awareness of members of the Eastern Region of the Melbourne Anglican Diocese to this responsibility and to encourage an engagement in, and an acceptance of, the challenge concerning water usage by the Church itself and by Church members.

REFLECTION

As a people of faith we have before us the Great Commandment,

“To love God, to love neighbour and to love self”.

The environment is our neighbour, sustaining us, nurturing us and teaching us about ourselves and about that which is different to ourselves.

The land, the water, the air, all that is vegetable and all that is animal and mineral become very intimate neighbours calling each of us to learn more about how we relate to them.

The commandment calls us into a relationship with our living world.

We mutually receive and have reciprocal responsibilities back to all aspects of the Earth’s created order.

We have been offered a time to heal both ourselves and our environment by using this received and share knowledge, we are enabled to hand on our wisdom to those generations yet to be born and also to honour all those who have made this journey before us.

Loving God we thank you for this world of wonder and delight.
You have given it to us to care for, so that all your creatures may enjoy its bounty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and Guantanamo Bay

Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury,

has spoken out against Guantanamo Bay

and the breaches of human rights that are occuring there.

Phillip Aspinall, Anglican Primate of Australia and Archbishop of Brisbane

has spoken out to-day.

Who will listen in the USA? Who will listen in Australia?

Australia has one of its own, David Hicks, incarcerated there:

left to rot by Howard, Downer, Ruddock and co.

Very moral people these people -

at least it is my guess that this is how they think of themselves.

Can't believe that they would try to match it with the Archbishops though.

But if they do reflect on the their actions,

on the morality of their actions

and the spiritual counsel they might seek

in regard to their power over the life of David Hicks

and the delegation of that power to a foreign power

what does their conscience tell them?

I reported on John McIntyre's Episcopal Ordination here. On Saturday 18 February 2006, John was installed as Bishop of Gippsland at St Paul's Cathedral in Sale. Above is an album of photographs of the whole thing. There are quite a few.

John McIntyre was made the Bishop of Gippsland to-day

John McIntyre to-day was made the Anglican Bishop of Gippsland in a powerful and inspirational Service of Episcopal Ordination at the Metropolitical and Cathedral Church of St Paul in the heart of Melbourne. For John, it is a return to Victoria where he studied and initiated his ministry - a ministry that is noteworthy for an inclusive attitude to those marginalised by poverty, race, gender, or sexuality. For the last fifteen years, he has been the rector at St Saviour's, Redfern in the inner city of Sydney. Redfern is a suburb characterised by Housing Commission towers, a significant Aboriginal population, and increasing gentrification as the middle classes move in to restore nineteenth century terraces or take up an urban lifestyle in a Meriton apartment. John McIntyre and the St Saviour's congregation are well known identities in Redfern. If ever a church was immersed in a community, it's St Saviour's. John and the congregation have initiated many progressive programs for revitalising the community. St Saviour's does not dominate, nor does it run everything. But it is involved - it has set up organisations - as well as a community garden - and provides on-going support in a variety of ways. Church members may be on various community committees but if not they still know what's happening because of their community knowledge and friendships. John himself does not rely on people coming to him. He goes to them - even if it means propping up the bar at one of the locals for a while. An Aboriginal church is part of parish life on its own premises in one of Redfern's major streets. He takes his guitar and conducts services at Missionholme - an aged person's hostel run by Mission Australia. The same guitar is in evidence at Sunday morning services and Jan McIntyre, John's wife, is also part of the music support with a Celtic drum. The children's program always involves John and his guitar - and if I could have 'improved' to-day's service then I would have had John on his guitar and Jan on her drum. I spent three months on a ministry placement with John at St Saviour's. John is one of those rare creatures - an enabler. I'm not sure that the word 'no' is part of his vocabulary. With John, as with his God, all things are possible. If they don't happen to-day, that's OK. Just believe and you will see them happen. Reality bore out his faith. As full of praise as I am for John and Jan (by the way Jan's hospitality is legendary), I am amazed and curious about the people of Gippsland who want John as their bishop. You see John's style and the people he draws into the centre are not everyone's cup of tea. Yet Gippsland has chosen this man with a rare vision and style to lead it. This I know. Gippsland's (and the McIntyre's) journey to Christ and those whom He loves will be a story worth the telling.

A smoking pyre on the Cathedral steps: Aboriginal ritual of healing and cleansing

The Chapter Procession enters the Cathedral through the Great Doors

The Acting-Metropolitan's Procession enters by the Great Doors

John responds to the Questions of Examination

Bishops gather around John for the laying on of hands

John is presented to the congregation as Bishop of Gippsland by the Acting-Metropolitan. There was resounding applause

The recession begins.

Note: John's stole with the Aboriginal flag. This was made by his mother for
NAIDOC Week 2001.

Rev Dr Bill Lawton, formerly Rector of St John's Darlinghurst in Sydney, preached the sermon.

BILL FARMER, HEAD OF DIMIA RESIGNS POST

The Prime Minister, John Howard to-day announced the resignation of Bill Farmer AO from his position of Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. See New Senior Appointments - 10 July 2005. Ordinarily, this would be a matter for much rejoicing in those seeking reform within the Dept of Immigration. However, his departure has been suspected as being imminent for two reasons:

1. He apologised to a Parliamentary Committee
2. He received an AO at the recent Queen's Birthday awards.

Awards are not unusual prior to the resignation of a senior public servant or their transfer to a significant overseas posting. In this case, Bill Farmer will become Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia. This posting need not be seen as unusual since his service prior to DIMIA was with the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). If there is anything punitive in these changes to Bill Farmer's career because of the massive failures within the operations and organization of his department, it is not evident.

As a Christian and a practising Anglican, I have been particularly disappointed in the handling of immigration matters because Bill Farmer is the spouse of an Anglican priest in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn and because the excesses under his leadership also occurred under the ministry of that other well-known Anglican, Philip Ruddock, now the Commonwealth Attorney-General.

All of us can be forgiven and all of us deserve the right to a clean slate and a fresh start. I hope that Bill Farmer has been able to learn from what has occurred within the Department of Immigration and understands how the Department he led has been the bureaucratic hand of gross injustice. I also hope that his new position gives him more time for biblical study - in particular, I hope he has a glance at the references in the Old Testament on how the Lord God of Israel instructs us to care for the sojourner - because you were once sojourners. The New Testament could provide material for reflection - particularly the matter of Jesus, with his parents Mary and Joseph, fleeing persecution to become asylum seekers in Egypt. There is no mention of how the Egyptians treated this little family of refugees but clearly they were not locked in interminable detention and were, at an appropriate time of their choosing, able to return. And thereby hangs a story! Now, Bill, narrative theology is a worthwhile pursuit. Listen to the stories.